Sasha's Kitchen: Blood Orange Creme Brulee

Ah, creme brulee old friend, where have you been? We have not seen each other in awhile! So yes, it has been awhile since I have made and posted a recipe for creme brulee, but it has been in the works for sometime. I have wanted to do a citrus inspired creme brulee, maybe meyer lemon flavored. But, I decided that it was finally time to try a blood orange creme brulee. I devised this recipe that has exactly the consistency of a properly made creme brulee, but has the tangy orange flavor of the blood orange. The result was a wonderful, tangy creme brulee that was a pretty peachy color. This is a great party recipe, as the recipe makes about eight creme brulees (unfortunately I only had four dishes), and you can let each guest brulee their own with the creme brulee kitchen torch, after going over safety rules of course.

Sasha's Blood Orange Creme Brulee
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
7 egg yolks
2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup blood orange juice (you could also use blood orange puree)

To make the creme brulee, combine the sugar, heavy cream and blood orange juice in a saucepan. Heat over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved, and the mixture bubbles slightly around the edges. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and add in the egg yolks. Meanwhile boil a large pot of water.

Add the mixture to each of the brulee dishes and place in a large high walled pan (I used a broiling pan). Fill the pan with the hot water about 2/3 of the way up the sides of the creme brulee dishes. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Chill for at least two hours - even overnight is fine. Top with a bit of granulated sugar in a thin later (superfine sugar is even better for this) and brulee, following the instructions of your kitchen torch.

Sasha's Kitchen: Blood Orange Creme Brulee

Sasha's Kitchen: Succulent Citrus Salad With Honey Vinaigrette

Citrus fruits are perfect for summer, and while summer is not quite here just yet, it is the perfect time for a juicy citrus salad.  All citrus fruits taste very different and this salad would be great with a combination of any different flavors.  What’s most important is using fresh, juicy organic fruits – the best you can find – because the salad depends on their quality.  I selected tangerines, Valencia oranges and blood oranges, along with blackberries.  Other great fruits to use include Satsuma oranges, Mandarin Oranges, grapefruits and raspberries.  I would have actually preferred raspberries but they are not in season yet and are exorbitantly expensive right now.

As far as the lettuce, I recommend using Boston butter lettuce, my absolute favorite kind of lettuce.  Please do not substitute other types of lettuce in this salad as none will have the buttery sweet flavor of Boston lettuce, which complements the citrus fruit and the sweet honey vinaigrette perfectly.

Sasha’s Succulent Citrus Salad (makes about 3-4 salads, depending on the size)

2 tangerines

1 large Valencia orange

2 medium sized blood oranges

2 small heads of Boston butter lettuce

fresh tarragon

½ cup canola oil

¼ cup champagne vinegar

15 blackberries

2T honey

Slice the peels off the fruit and separate into segments.  Prepare each salad with the Boston lettuce and equal portions of the fruits.  Combine vinegar, canola oil and honey into a vinaigrette.  Top with the vinaigrette and a bit of fresh tarragon.

Sasha's Kitchen: Succulent Citrus Salad With Honey Vinaigrette

Sasha's Kitchen: Key Lime Bars

As a kid, my family sometimes went on vacations to Sanibel Island, Florida, a haven for seashell enthusiasts. On these trips, I always loved ordering Florida's most famous desert at the restaurants we went to - key lime pie.

I have made key lime pie before, but tonight I made key lime bars. In my case, the bars were actually lime bars, since key lime is hard to come by in New York City (hint: if you are reading this in Florida and want to send me key lime juice, that would make me very happy). Even without the traditional key lime, these still taste delicious. I think the recipe could also be done with any citrus fruit by substituting the juice and zest of that fruit (lemon, and possibly tangerine, grapefruit or orange).

First, to make the crust, combine the following:

1 cup plus 2 T graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
5 T butter, melted

Mix well and press into a rectangular or square glass or ceramic baking dish (I used my Emile Henry lasagna dish).

Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes until dry and golden brown, and then allow to cool completely.

To prepare the filling:

3 large egg yolks
zest of one key lime (or in my case a regular lime)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup key lime juice (or regular lime juice)

To make the filling, use your Kitchen aid artisan mixer (which you may have already figured out, is my favorite kitchen appliance. First put in the egg yolks and lime zest in the bowl of the mixer, and beat at high speed for 5 minutes. I intended on using three egg yolks, but I am not actually sure if I used three or four. One of the eggs I cracked open was actually a twin, meaning that it had two yolks! I think I have only seen this once in all of my years of egg-cracking. I am not exactly sure what to say about this, but since I was a biology major in college, I found this culinary oddity to be a combination of both freakishly weird and fascinating. I guess the chicken must have come before the egg?

At any rate, beat the egg yolks and zest at high speed for about five minutes until thick, and reduce to medium. Slowly add the condensed milk and mix for three minutes. Then reduce the speed to low and add the lime juice, just until mixed.

Spread over the graham cracker crust and refrigerate for at least four hours. Mine are currently in the fridge, and so pictures are not quite available yet (soon).

If you want to serve with whipped cream, you can beat 1/4 cup of heavy cream in your mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Another note - I am a planner so, like with vacations and other life plans, I think about my food a week in advance (with the occasional spur-of-the moment decision). The key lime bars were one of my last-minute baking decisions. However, upcoming planned cooking projects include: Baked Alaska, Thai stir fry, raisin-chicken tacos, Chocolate stout cupcakes, and tomorrow night's variation of Hanukkah potato latkes to mark the start of Hanukkah.

Sasha's Kitchen: Key Lime Bars